Offseason circus continues as Lecavalier is a Flyer

Beating the free agency period by less than 72 hours and stealing the spotlight away from a division rival, the Philadelphia Flyers landed coveted unrestricted free agent center Vincent Lecavalier on Tuesday.

Though the club only revealed it is a multi-year contract, multiple sources across North America cite the deal as being worth $22.5 million over the next five seasons. In addition, further sources indicate a significant no-movement clause was included in the package.

The deal was consummated after reports earlier in the day that Lecavalier's camp shot down both the Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens.

"I'm excited," Lecavalier said to RDS by phone. "The Flyers have an attacking style and I wanted to play in a hockey market. Regarding the Canadiens, I was very impressed with Geoff Molson, Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien. I do not want to go into details, but these are really external factors behind my decision."

You can pencil Lecavalier in as the team's #2 center, behind fellow French-Canadian Claude Giroux. He will be rolling in the dough, with more than $55 million on his ledger.

Lecavalier is only 33 years old and finished his 14th NHL campaign with 10 goals and 22 assists in 39 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the only franchise he had known over the course of his pro career. The subject of the largest single buyout in the short history of the compliance variety, Lecavalier departed the Bolts on June 27 after 383 goals and 491 assists for 874 points in 1,037 regular-season games.

Captain for the 2004 Stanley Cup winners, Lecavalier added 52 points (24G, 28A) over 63 postseason contests.

Despite the buyouts of Ilya Bryzgalov and Danny Briere, the newest member of the organization, even at a bargain per season, will result in at least two pieces to the current roster puzzle being moved in order to comply with the shrinking salary cap for 2013-14.

The deadline for the commencement of free agency is midnight on Friday.

One player who will not be testing the market, is Pens defenseman Kris Letang, whose agreement with Pittsburgh on a $58 million, eight-year contract extension set off alarms throughout North America.